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Just gave my exam yesterday and got 600.
Not shocked as I was getting scores between 580 and 620 in MGMAT and GMATPrep tests.
Last GMATprep i got 670 Q50 V31.

My Experience of GMAT:
I felt that Quant was really easy and similar to GMATPrep. But verbal was tougher than GMATPrep and MGMAT tests.
SC was tricky, CR was the toughest and RC was medium. Just 1 RC was hard, rest 3 were medium.

Although I am planning to retake it in 2 months and apply in R2, but please let me know which schools are mod, ambi, etc. and other than these schools if there is any school which suits my profile and GMAT score.Below is my profile snapshot:

10th: 78%
12th: 85%
B.Tech. : 69%
5.5 years of work exp in IT company(Ranked as 14th in Fortune 500 companies list), headquartered in US.
Male Indian IT Guy
Not associated with any NGO though i run my own website for health awareness and cancer prevention and promote it through facebook.
I used to run my own website and I am an ethical Hacker and used to run my own website for ethical hacking but its closed now. not sure if it will help me or not.
My Target schools are Schulich, University of Illinois Urbana Champaghne, Carlson, Fordham, UIC and Depaul.

Thanks.

Hi, going just on your GMAT alone, Schulich, Indiana, Urbana, have averages well beyond your 600. Fordham is much closer in reach, as is DePaul, and UIC has an average GMAT below yours. Beyond that, I don't know much about this tier of schools; as an Indian IT guy, you will need to work hard to make yourself stand out from the pack - your private initiative sounds like a great way to do that, as are any extracurricular experiences you have had, any leadership opportunities in and out of work, and any achievements that brought great value to your organizations.
Also, you will want to describe goals that have a strong connection to your history, while justifying a need for an MBA.

Good luck!!

Joy

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Need some guidance.

I gave my GMAT recently and got a 690 (Q49, V35, IR6, AWA5.5). I am thinking of applying to six to seven schools. Some of which are as follows:
Tepper, Kelley, UCLA, Fuqua, Mays, UC Irvine.

My work profile goes as follows:
Work Experience (WE): 96 months
Industry: Oil and Gas/Manufacturing
Function: Information Technology/IT Consulting
Technical Expertise: ERP, PeopleSoft, Oracle
Projects: Various big projects (in leadership roles) to improve services
Profile: Managing and coordinating teams scattered around the globe (India, US, UK, Brazil, Norway and Australia) to deliver IT services to our internal customers.
Interactions with: Internal customers/business heads/Corporate leads
Certifications: Six Sigma, Leading High Performance Teams (LHPT)
GPA: Close to 3.7
Extracurricular Activities: Founded of a social initiative (Prayaas) to impart education in villages. Co-Founded a cloud based service (servehr.com) targeting start-ups and small sized organizations. District level( under-18) basketball player.

After graduating, I am looking to be placed in a technology company.

Considering my profile, schools selected, and my GMAT score, what are the chances of get at least 100% scholarship in any of the colleges? So which college would be the best?

Thanks in advance!

Would appreciate your review ---

I'm interested in attending business school but only if I get into a top program (H/S/W). Please let me know what you think my chances are based on my profile. I think my weakness is my current GMAT score (and potentially being at an investment firm that is not as prestigious as the investment banking firm I worked at). I don't really feel compelled to re-take my GMAT because I believe the rest of my package is strong and a bump in my GMAT is not going to change the end result. Furthermore, I think that my finance background and experience complements a lower GMAT score and reduces the chance of it being seen as a red flag. I'm under the impression that my time will be better spent focused on perfecting my essays, etc. I won't be applying to b-school until a year from today for summer 2016.

GMAT: 680
School: Big Ten School (e.g., University of Wisconsin / Michigan / Indiana)
GPA: 3.9 / 4.0
College Extracurriculars: President of top business school organization; affiliated with other organizations

Work Experience:
* 2 years in top NYC investment banking program (JP/GS/BX); completed various M&A transactions and advised multi-billion dollar corporations
* Currently an associate at a Chicago middle market private equity shop (1 month exp. so far; will spend the next two/three years here depending on b-school admission); efforts are focused on identifying and investing in middle market services businesses, ranging from $10 - $100mm investments; half of my time is focused on new investments and the other half is spent working with management at existing portfolio companies and implementing their growth strategy, etc.
* College internships include 2 fortune 500 companies

Other Experience:
* Board member of local art organization/school; helping them develop and grow (just joined but will have 1 year of exp. by time of application)

Recommendations:
* Partner at investment bank; previously at HBS; strong connection and pull; worked with him/her closely for 1 year
* Founding partner at current private equity firm; strong connection with other top 10 MBA programs not on my list; well-known in Chicago area
* No connection at Stanford at this point

Please let me know if you need any further information to properly review. I think I'm in a decent position. I don't feel obligated to go to b-school (considering my position today), but I feel like the value from a top 3 school would be beneficial (e.g., network), for both a career continuing in investment management or a career outside of it.

Thanks in advance.

Hi there, your profile looks very good and balanced. You don't say, but I assume you are from India, from what you've written. As you know, it puts you in an over represented category. Your GMAT is good, but not great. If you think you can retake and score higher, I would try to do so. Of the schools you have mentioned, I think you have a chance of acceptance at all; in terms of scholarship, I really can't say, but of your list, Duke would be the most difficult, followed by Tepper and UCLA.

Good luck!!

Joy
Senior Application Consultant
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Hi, at the moment I don't see anything 'outstanding' in your profile that will help you get admitted to one of these top 3 schools. It might be there, but just not being mentioned in the profile you listed above. Your GPA is great - that's very good. The recommendation from the partner who went to HBS can also be very supportive of your application, so that's also good. It will be of special significance if you apply to HBS. Beyond that, you haven't had much experience or time to build up achievements at work, so it might be that next year your profile will look significantly different. I don't see any leadership experience in the profile; so you would want to emphasize that. I don't see any initiatives, this would be very important. Your extracurricular experience seems lacking as well; you did something in college, and now you've just started something new. If you grow that area over the next year it will help as well. The GMAT in my opinion is a disadvantage; if you think you can get it up higher, I would consider retaking, especially for Stanford and Wharton. The fact that schools are asking these days for fewer essays and fewer/shorter recommendations says to me that more weight is being put on test scores - and it was always a significant part of the package. Anyone who matches your profile but has a higher GMAT score will be considered ahead of you, I think.

All that being said, top notch essays that paint a unique picture and help you to shine will go a long way....

Good luck!

Joy
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Please advice me...

Indian Female
GMAT : 680 (Q48, V31, AWA 5 IR 7)
Schools I wish to apply to : HEC Paris, IESE, ESADE, ISB, NUS
10th : 86%
12th : 96%
B.E(Hons) : 7.7/10 (electronics and instrumentation) from a top 10 college in India
Graduated in 2011
Work experience :
1. 1 year in a start-up NPO as Director
2. 2 years small sized IT company as Software Engineer II.
Extracurriculars:
1. Got elected as cultural representative of hostel(hostel strength:300) in College
2. Received President Award in Bharath Scouts and Guides program
3. Member of Dance Club in college and won group dance competitions.
Reccomendations:
1. Director at the IT company I worked for. Due to small size of the team, the Director was able to look at me closely to give recommendation. He has 20 years of Industry experience.
2. Vice president of a company whom I approached for raising funds at the NPO.

I am keen on obtaining MBA from the top schools in Europe. After graduating , I want to be non-profit sector. And want to expand the NPO that I am working in.

I have the following questions:
1. Does the work exp in NPO provide me an edge over the other Indian applicants ?
2. If 650 is not enough, will a score in a range 680-700 good ?
3. How to strengthen the point of needing an MBA at this point of time in my essays ?
4. what other top schools (non-U.S) can i consider ?

Thanks in advance

Hi Sir,

My Brief Stats are as follows:

UG: Btech NIT Calicut( Tier 2 Engineering College India ), GPA: 6.95/10, Highest GPA was 8.8/10, Class rank: 17/42, No of Distinctions in class( GPA 8 and above): 8

GMAT, GRE: Yet to give I am contemplating something around 700 or 720.

Actually my story goes as follows..

Before entering college I had to drop a year during my 11th grade because my dad got a transfer to a different part of the country & after completing my 12th grade I again took a year off for the purpose of coaching myself for the prestigious IITJEE exam.Thus as you can seen I was about 20 years old when I entered college.


I graduated from a tier 2 Engineering college in India ( NIT), however I had serious health issues during my first year of college and hence i couldn't attend classes for half of the semester..( I received 6 F grades because of this..).My dad who happens to be a doctor of course treated me, hence I can provide some reasoning for this in my Essays as well as in some recommendation letters from some of my professors who know me quite well. Towards the end of my college I had began to do a bit of financial modelling and with sufficient interest I had taken up my final year thesis with a professor of my college for a financial modelling and optimization project.

I became interested in this field and again took up another 2 finance project under the same professor, all based on higher degrees of financial modelling and optmization ( He is now an Assistant Professor at IIM Indore). Since I needed time to put myself into this track I had to devote near to around 8 months solely for making out these thesis and subsequently publishing them into an International Finance Journal. These 3 projects have now been published.. I have plans also to present them in a national or an international conference.

After 8 months of research in finance i decided to spend some time in doing social cause work and for around another 7 months was actively working for 3 to 4 NGOs in the field of Child rights, Environment protection etc..helping them with fundraising and campaigning. I was also subsequently offered to become a campus ambassador for a micro finance NGO in helping them find investors for the firms operations.( I am presently doing this apart from my full time work)

Thus after 1.5 years after graduation I joined for a job in Dubai at a reputed I bank. My plan further down the lane is to take a one year MS in finance preferably in US course by applying for a sabbatical at my firm. ( partly because it will help me understanding more about finance and also it would help me in offsetting my GPA in UG).

Along the way I have taken CFA level 1 and 2 and FRM level 1 and 2 as well. Also I am planning to take up GRE Math ( apart from GRE and GMAT) as well some UC Berkeley extension courses to help rectify my academics ( prior to my MS In Finance).

My dillema here is take a trade off between taking up an MS in Finance and gaining a substantial boost to my profile in term of academic and other prospects or to use those precious 1 to 1.5 years for work experience since I am already aging quite fast with respect to an MBA application.



Now the point is that i would be around 31 or 32 by the time I have 4 to 5 years of experience. What kind of MBA program should I target for in your opinion? ie to say should I opt for an E MBA or a part time MBA program. Or Can I still make it into top 10 full time programs programs..?

Or can you provide me some guidance in stating what would the ideal thing to do in my case if I am aiming for top 10 MBA programs..?

Hope you can help me out.

Hello Mr. Levi. I need your expert opinion as I have a weak GMAT score. I am a 25 year old male from a developing nation. Can you please evaluate my profile based on the following? I am planning to apply this year for 2015 intake. I want to choose some good schools. But confused on which schools shall I apply with the following profile. I have included details. I am looking for a good MBA program. Please help me by mentioning some school names where I will be competitive. Thanks.

Post MBA Goal: Want to move into Consulting from the financial services industry.
Back up plan: Will develop my career in the financial services industy
Academic Profile:

GMAT 660 (Q48, V32, AWA 6, IR 6), IELTS 8, Undergrad CGPA 3.86 (BBA major in Finance from a Top 5 University in Bangladesh in 2013)

Professional Work Experience:

Dec 2013 - Present: A US based private equity firm in Bangladesh (will be 19 months by June 30, 2015)

Investment Analyst

- Analyse financial Statements of SMEs to make Investment Decision
- Monitoring Investments, preparing financial models
- Dealing with New Clients to Complete the Investment Process
- Conduct HR functions as required.
- Engage and fulfil all administrative works to close a new deal
(project)
- Maintaining liaison with USA Head-quarter for inputs, reporting,
improvements and discussing outcomes.
- Prepare budget and financial plan for portfolio companies

Aug 2013 - Oct 2013: A US based private equity firm in Bangladesh (3months)

Intern

- Evaluate SME profiles, assist in administrative works.

Dec 2012 Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Bangladesh

Conference Aide, Friends of ’71

- In charge of full support to the Guests
- Managed Scheduling for the guest’s various programs
- Maintained Communication with the Guests about official events

2010 - 2013 Needle to Fashion (Family Business)
Needle to Fashion is an embroidery house.

Accounts and Administrative Officer

- Prepared Financial Statements
- Maintained the journal entries
- Engaged in budgeting, and cost controlling activities
- Maintained communication with foreign buyers

2010 – 2013 Mentored Students

Private Tutor

- Full study guidance to high school and primary School students
- Mentored students for MBA Admission tests

EXTRACURRICULAR EXPERIENCE


 Maintained all administrative works and Scheduled all activities as Class Representative at University
 Organized Social Events
 Founder of a inter-university formal Voluntary group
 Volunteered in the Social Welfare Club at University
 Ensured successful arrangement of the Science Fair as Volunteer at school
 Arranged seminars and career counseling sessions at University
 Helped students by providing information on GMAT and Business Schools as the Admin of the largest facebook group of Bangladeshi aspiring GMAT test takers
 Arranged free seminar to help Bangladeshi students perform well in GMAT

HONOURS AND AWARDS

 2nd Runner-up of Biz Maestros 2013 (A marketing case competition) arranged by Unilever Bangladesh
 Champion of ROBI YTP intra University Case study competition (arranged by ROBI Axiata Limited)
 Lead the Team to top 30 in Inter University HSBC Business Case Competition
 Made to the top 100 among 1500+ participants at Battle of Minds 2013 arranged by British American Tobacco Bangladesh
 Winner of a Case Study Competition arranged by Bangladesh Brand Forum (BBF)

Hi there!
About your questions:
1. I do believe that this NPO experience gives you a bit of an edge - it's different, which makes you stand out, and as Director, I assume you are gaining leadership/management experience, which is crucial.
2. In the beginning of your post, you wrote that you had a 680 GMAT. Was that a mistake? Because here you are asking about 650. 650 is very low; 680 is on the border - you can apply with it, but if you think you can break 700 I suggest retaking.
3. The Why MBA is all related to your goals. You need to plan a realistic path for your career that requires you at this point in time to do an MBA in order to progress.
4. Consider IMD as well.

Good luck!!

Joy

Senior Application Consultant
Aringo.com
https://www.facebook.com/Aringo.Top.MBA.Admissions

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Hi there, you sound like you have had an interesting academic career so far - congratulations on the publications! As to whether to go for MA in Finance or MBA, I think you firstly need to decide what career path you wish to take, and then decide which direction is most likely to get you there. If you are not sure, perhaps go for the MBA first, because it might be easier to get accepted to an MA program as an older candidate (though I'm not sure about this - you would need to check it out, as my expertise is in MBA programs only).

If you decide to go for an MBA in your early 30s, it is doable, but makes things much more difficult. After 30, your chances go down, unless you have really super desirable professional experience, so if you end up applying in your 30s and you have mainly academic experience, that's not going to help you. At that point you might consider part time MBA or EMBA - but again, the latter is for someone mid-career, and it's not clear to me that you have any professional experience yet at all.

So - again, I say decide. You want a career in academics? Go for the MA. You want a career in business? Go get some good professional experience, and then apply for your MBA before you turn 30.

All the best,

Joy

Senior Application Consultant
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Hi There,
Firstly, as you know already, the GMAT is on the low side and will make things more challenging. You do have stellar extracurricular experiences, a lot of initiative and leadership in your background, and good experience in your current profession. You should consider whether to move to consulting as a career goal, or to stay in your current job. It needs thought, in terms of what will make you most attractive to the programs.

Good schools that you might consider are Kenan Flagler (median GMAT of 690), Texas McCombs (median of 681 with low of 620), Emory (Median 676, low of 610), Boston College (median 663).

Or - retake the GMAT, get your score up and apply to a higher tier.
Let us know if we can be of any further help.

All the best,

Joy
Senior Application Consultant
Aringo.com
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Thank you Sir for your response and advice.

I am keen on doing an MS in Finance partly because it will help me clear off my backlogs during my UG and partly because I hope to get into a better brand of I bank after graduation( if possible).

I am sure this is going to take some of my time.. but my concern is whether the adcoms would look down at my not-so-good UG performance and reject me out at the time of my MBA admission if I have not taken a prior degree to offset my UG grades. I am still a little apprehensive about how the reaction would be for the top 10 MBA schools without a live classroom performance?( not considering my work experience as I have just started working)


Do you think a couple of Extension courses from UC Berkeley or UCLA would help me put up a compensation for my poor UG performance( although this was perfectly due to my health condition those days..) and with a good work experience I could go for a top 10 program( that's my objective...)

I have heard that most of the top 10 schools don't look through any alternative transcript however good the extension school maybe.. Is this true..?

I was hoping you could share your views on this...

Hi Sir,

I'd like to hear your advice of my profile. Thank you in advance!

One week ago, I just my GMAT and received a 580 score (M 46, V 25), I'm totally disappointed. I ever asked myself whether GMAT is too tough to me and whether I can apply Business school. I was hoping to get high enough score to apply to UCLA Anderson, TA McCombs or any top 30 school, but unfortunately my score is not enough.

Female
29 y/o
China Mainland
BA in Sociology GPA 3.3

I have 1 year market research and 2 years management experience in a local provider of product retrieval, POS audits and market research. I also got promoted twice in this company.

Another 2 years I provide service for India market of the world’s largest international oil and Gas Company in Shanghai. At the same time, I also work for a global provider of point-of-sale (POS) audits, product retrieval and mystery shopping services part-time.

I will definitely have a great letter or reference from my supervisor of my current company also a reference from my general manger at my previous company.

I ever joined some Volunteer work when I was in the university.

MBA Goals: General management

if you have suggestions of the GMAT score, or other top tier schools that you think I would take a look. Any words of your suggestion and encouragement are greatly appreciated at this point.

Hi,

I wrote GMAT recently and got a score of 690 (Q51, V32). My GMATprep # 2, 3, 4 scores - 710 (Q49, V36), 710 (Q50, V35) and 710 (Q50, V35). I wanted to score a 700+ score and hence I am little disappointed with a 690 score. I would appreciate if you can provide some guidance based on my profile for my goals.

Background -
- India Male engineer 28 years old
- B.Tech Electrical Engineering from NIT, Surat (India) - CGPA: 8.51/10
- 1 year work experience at Hindustan Petroleum Corp ltd as an "operations officer" in the pipeline division
- M.S Computer Engineering from UC San Diego - GPA: 3.37/4
- 3 months summer internship at Maxim Integrated
- 3.5 years work experience at Maxim Integrated (Semiconductors IC design) as a "Design Engineer" - promoted at the end of 3rd year from "Associate Member of Technical Staff (AMTS)" to "Member of Technical Staff (MTS)" - I design integrated circuits for automotive applications
- GMAT - 690 (Q51, V32)

Extra curricular -
- Toastmasters certified - Competent Communicator (CC), Competent Leader (CL)
- Toastmasters club - been a secretary for 6 months, treasurer for 6 months, VP PR for 6 months
- Marathon runner, Chess champion in college for 3 years, represented India in a private chess tournament in Kenya.

Universities I am interested in -
Kellogg, Booth, Ross, Darden, Fuqua, McCombs, Sloan

Post MBA goals - Management consulting or business strategy at a tech company.

I understand my GMAT is low for consulting career. Along with an opinion on my chances at these business schools with current profile, I would like an opinion on
- if I should apply in round 2 for fall 2015 with a 690 score and work on improving GMAT after applications?
- Or take GMAT asap and apply in round 2 with better score?
- Or relax now and take GMAT by March-April and apply in round 1 for Fall 2016?

Thank you very much,
Shams

Hi, I understand your dilemma, and it's not an easy one to solve. In terms of the UG scores - I assume that in the latter years of your studies you had much higher grades to offset the first year when you were sick. You can certainly write an essay about this for the schools -most of them have optional essays for such cases - and your grades will back up your explanation. You also would want to have your recommenders stress how smart you are, and how dedicated and conscientious in your work. And of course shoot for a high GMAT that will also show your abilities. That should be fine then. I had a client once who got into Columbia with a low undergraduate GPA - 2.3 or something, out of 4, barely a C. And his excuse was simply that he was immature at the time, and didn't give as much attention to his studies as he should have, and he regretted it now but had grown up since then.

I don't know about the extension work; certainly it seems to me that if you did some advanced courses in the areas that you initially failed, it would show dedication, but I'm not sure if its necessary or how they will receive it.

I do think that the most important thing now is significant work experience - that will give you responsibility, leadership if possible, international experience, and the chance to rack in some important accomplishments for your resume and essays. And you definitely don't want to be applying for an MBA when you are 32 and up - the chances go way down then.

Good luck!!

Joy

Senior Application Consultant
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Hi there, that is disappointing. 580 is not enough for a top tier program, you will need to do much better or set your sights lower. Before I suggest schools to consider with this GMAT, tell me - did you do a GMAT preparatory course in advance? The first thing I would suggest is investing several months in studying, and then retaking the GMAT. As you are almost 30, there isn't time to waste, but I think that as a Chinese woman with management experience and international experience, you have a lot going for you, and this can offset the fact that you will be 31-2 when you start school. What do you say?

Joy

Senior Application Consultant
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